Wood-shaping machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.-

O. H. ELLINGWOOD. WOOD SHAPING MACHINE.

No. 546,512. I Patented Sept. 17, 1895.

mummy/6 W JNVENTOR M 0 44-64 BY ATTORNEY (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. H. ELLINGWOOD. WOOD SHAPING MACHINE. V 1 i No. 546,512. Patented Sept. 17, 1895.

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" WITNESSES: IN VENT 01? g 5M 1 f%ax. 1%. flfl'ywwl 0544/0 MM, BY

QTTORNEY ANDREW BEHAHAM, Pllm-UI'NQWASNINGWN. QC,

UNITED TATES PATENT Fries.

CHARLES H. ELLINGW'OOD, OF HARRISON, MAINE.

WOOD-SHAPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 546,512, dated September 17, 1895.

' Application filed December 81,1894. Serial No. 533.417. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- v

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. ELLING- WOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harrison, in the county of Cumberland and State'of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wood-Shaping Machines for Irregular Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in shaping-machines for hollowing wooden chairseats and similar irregular surfaces, and its object is to provide for the quick and accurate reproduction of such irregular surfaces of any required form or dimensions.

In describing my invention I shall refer to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the clamping apparatus for securing the work. Fig. 4. is a perspective view of a chair-seat worked out on this machine, and Fig. 5 is a perspective of the reversed form or pattern used in its production.

A is a cutter-head, made perferably hemispherical, although some other curved shape might be better adapted for some kinds of work. Two or more knives are secured to the inside surface of this head and are set a trifle in advance of the periphery and arranged to have a spiral or shearing out. Consequently there is no gouging or splintering of the material.

B is an inclined spindle, on which the head A is hung, having bearings in boxes J J and driven at proper speed by means of pulley c and counter-shaft E, or in any other suitable manner. about forty-five degrees, and this angle I have found to be practical, though not absolutely essential to success.

D is a bracket, which is fitted to move vertically on ways K by means of the screw h, hand-wheel a, and connecting-gearing.

O is a heavyframe supporting the boxes J J, ways K, counter-shaft E, and other necessary parts. This frame consists of a main pedestal portion surmounted by a post having an inclined shaft-bearing and an arm also provided with a similar bearing for the cutter-shaft. The pedestal will have a height to support the work conveniently for the operator and hold The inclination of this shaft can be the work-frame at a suitable level to provide for its easy and accurate manipulation, as will hereinafter appear.

F is a light carrier-frame, which extends back of the machine and surrounds theupper part ofthe main frame 0, as shown in Fig. 2, and 'is pivoted at 9, so as to swing vertically. G is an upright support, which is pivoted at d to a bracket secured to the floor, or, if preferred', to a projecting flange on the frame 0.

H is a small intermediate frame or section, which swings horizontally on a pintle f, proj ecting from the end of the support G, and it carries also the pivot g of frame F, the axis of which is at right angles, or nearly so, to the axis f.

The result of this construction is that the carrier-frame F may have a horizontal move- .ment to and from the operator standing at L,

a transverse swing upon the pintle f, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and a vertical oscillation on the pivots g. The pivots d of the upright, the pintle f, and the pivot g are situated in approximately the same vertical plane near the end of the work carrier or frame, which is provided with a handle or handles at its opposite end. This construction gives the operator easy control overall the movements of the frame and provides a large leverage for effecting these movements in either of three planes. 7

The frame F is adapted at its ,forward'end to receive the work W by means of suitable clamps n and 19, Fig. 3, which are adjustable to receive the various sizes and thicknesses of the blocks and hold them firmly while being worked.

P is a pattern or form, which is rigidly at tached to the carrier-frame F directly underneath the work W, but which is made detachable in any convenient manner, so as to be readily exchanged. This pattern P is the exact, or nearly exact, reverse in surface contour of the work to be done, as indicated in Figs. 4. and 5-that is to say, a hollow in the work is represented by a ridge in the pattern, and vice versa.

. o is a convex rest or guide resting directly on the bracket D or on a bar Z, secured thereto, and when in operation the pattern P rides upon the guide 0, which should be located directly, or nearly so, under the point of deepest cutting of the head A, as indicated by the dotted center line a: in Fig. 3.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The work \V is properly secured to carrierframe F, and the operator grasps the handles 0 and forces the cutter-head A into its work, beginning preferably at the front edge of the block. The frame F is then given a transverse swing until the cutter-head has passed across the entire width of the work and then back again to the starting-point. It is then thrust forward, so that the cutter-head starts into a fresh cut. Alternate transverse swings and forward thrusts follow until the whole surface to be worked has been traversed by the cutter-head. Meantime the pattern P has been riding on the guide-wheel 0 at every point of movement, and consequently its shape reversed has been imparted to the work. The relative depth of the cutting is of course determined by the pattern P, but the general depth can be regulated by the screw and wheel a on the bracket D, thus making provision for work of different thicknesses. For large variation in the thickness of the work I provide an adjusting-collar m on the pintle f, whereby the carrier F may be adjusted to an average level to correspond. The distance between the guide 0 and the pivot 9 may be four feet to six feet, whereby the movement of the frame vertically and horizontally has no appreciable effect on the shape of the pat tern I as reproduced on the work.

Equivalent devices might be substituted for the guide 0, the carrier-frame F, and reversed pattern I, but they would not materially affect the operation of shaping by means of the convex cutter-head on an inclined axis, the reversed pattern and guide 0, and a universally adjustable carrier F for holding the work.

Convex cutter-heads have been used heretofore for shaping irregular surfaces, but always, so far as I know, on an axis which was perpendicular to the general plane of the work. By my arrangement of a hemispherical head on an inclined axis I am enabled to do the work much faster and do it smoother and more satisfactorily, because the cutting is more nearly parallel with the grain of the timber, and the speed of the cutting-edges is more nearly uniform.

I am aware that a convex head having a similarly curved cutting-blade has been combined with a sliding frame moving in fixed bearings and in a single plane to and from said head in a direction oblique to the shaft supporting said head.

I am further aware that a guide, pattern, cutter, and work-holding carrier have been so combined by means of a treadle and intermediate levers and lever-connecting rod that the cutter could be made to approach or recede from the work and the guide simulta neously moved to and from the said pattern, while the work-carrier could be pushed horizontally on casters supported by a table, and

I am also aware that cutting-tools have been pivotally supported to permit their movement in three separate planes, and I do not broadly claim devices of the general character indi-' cated. By my improvements the work can be moved in three planes and held against shearing -cutters supported mediately by a shaft revolving in fixed bearings. By this means the supporting and moving of the driving mechanism on the tool-support is avoided and the structure much simplified as compared with machines in which such driving mechanism is supported by the tool-carrier, and the improvement is thereby also adapted for more easily and positively manipulating large work, such as chair-bottoms. This object is further promoted by the increased leverage due to the situation of the handles at the end of the work-carrier frame at a distance from the work-clamping devices and at the end of the frame opposite its axes orpivots and opposite the frame-support.

I am also aware of a routing-machine comprising a work-supporting frame pivoted to move vertically and provided with a worksupporting table sliding thereon. My ID1- provement is distinguished therefrom by a work-supporting frame pivoted to move both horizontally and vertically, and also supported to be moved lengthwise, no separatelysliding table being required. This enables all the movements of the frame to be effected by a single instrumentality,such as the framehandles, and, further, it has an important re lation when combined with an inclined cutter, such as described, whereby an artielelike a chair-seat may be always out in one line of direction with respect to the grain, such cutter being freely movable across the article by means of a leverage as long as the frame itself.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wood shaping machine the work carrying frame having one end supported on an upright G pivoted at its foot below the frame to move in the direction of the length of said frame, the latter having pivotal connections near the top of the upright to permit its turning either horizontally or vertically, work clamping devices situated intermediate the ends of the frame, a cutting tool supported to rotate adjacent to said clamping devices, and driving mechanism, all in combination substantially as set forth.

2. In a wood shaping machine a main frame, an inclined shaft having fixed bearings in said frame, a cutter held by said shaft to 1'0- tate in approximately vertical lines whereby it can always be made to shear across the grain of wood and cut the face of an article such as a seat, a work-supporting frame or carrier suitably supported to move lengthwise and the same frame pivoted at or near one end to move both laterally and vertically whatever its lengthwise situation, and means for pressing the work against the cutter, substantially as set forth.

3. The main frame 0, the cutter shaft hav- :ing bearings in the main frame and driving gears having axes also supported by said frame, in combination with the work carrying frame provided with a handle or handles at one of its ends and at the other pivotally supported to turn in either a Vertical or horizontal direction, a support G pivoted to pro- 10 vide for the lengthwise movement of the said working frame, and work clamping devices situated intermediate the ends of the work 7 frame, substantially as set forth.

CHAS. H. ELLI NGWOOD. Witnesses:

J AMES P. LoWN, CHAS. F. RICKER. 

